Have you ever called American Express from a phone at a hotel or friend's house -- or one offered by a kind stranger after your bag was stolen? You may regret that.

Starting April 2 -- presumably to avoid any confusion that it's an April Fool's joke -- American Express reserves the right to call, play an automated voice message or send a text message to any phone, including a mobile phone, that you have used to contact the company in the past. The subject could be anything, and the owner of the phone in question will get the bill.

But what if the stranger isn't kind, the hotel operator isn't honest or your friend is easily irritated by telemarketers? These have been hotly discussed subjects on The Practical Nomad blog , written by the travel writer and consumer advocate Edward Hasbrouck, who closed his account over the new policy after carrying an AmEx card around the world for 20 years. (Unlike most people, he reads the fine print in his statements. This change was printed in the one mailed in February and applies to personal and small-business cards.)

I hope the pressure continues to build for AMEX and other banks and credit cards companies to rescind these terms. I understand you need to market but to call ANY phone you've called from is ludicrous. Too, too much!

"Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble." (U.S. Constitution)

"Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

"Liberty of movement is an indispensable condition for the free development of a person." (United Nations Human Rights Committee)